WHEN ONE IS MUTE, GOD STILL HEARS

For the Lord gives wisdom; from His mouth come knowledge and understanding. Proverbs 2:6

When I was around 2 years old, I was diagnosed with an autoimmune disorder known as autism. Autism is when a person has heavily impaired speech and often times, cannot speak whatsoever. My parents and brother were all greatly concerned that this would cause me to live a dependent life with someone assisting me at all times or worse. I lived in a household with my two parents and my brother, and my life was basked in prayer, affection, love, and discipline. My parents, as soon as they found out I had autism, hired numerous professional tutors that gradually taught me how to talk. At its peak, which was around the time the tutoring was first started, went on for six hours a day (two 3 hour shifts), 5-6 days a week, for a few years, which served rather as a type of homeschooling. I went to a prekindergarten school near my old house and whenever I went, I had to have a tutor with me at all times to assist me with my lack of speech and social skills. However, as I got older, I began to be rather hesitant and annoyed with my tutors, which created a rather stressful environment for both me, my family, and my tutors. As time passed by, a Godsend occured when in my first grade year, I made my first friends: Harrison Singleton and Jacob Mobley. This was a great leap regarding my social skills and my ability to talk. In fact, this was a sign that I was gradually beginning to grind off my autism as a whole, which was perhaps the greatest Godsend for me and my parents. We could see God’s work as the speech of His own voice was coming through my tutors to me and into me. God was giving my family and I wisdom and healing through the dedicated tutors I had, and this taught us all about a great sense of patience that is needed as this struggle took around ten years to subside the tides of autism fully. However, when someone has autism, their levels of intelligence range from below average, to medium, to above average. In grade school, schoolwork in third through sixth grade was an intimidating and tough cycle, and my parents and I were concerned about how I would be able to get through these years, let alone high school. God answered our prayers again and now, here I am, without any kind of tutoring, completely free of autism, and I have made several very close friends. To those who are hurt without any sign of recovery and worried about academia and future success, God is the source of wisdom and this wisdom can heal those not as fortunate, and propel people of all kinds to academic success. He hears our prayers, big and small, but definitely the ones that are vital, especially if you want to succeed for the glory of God. One must pray and truly believe in God.

By: Cameron Langford ('21)

Clyde, North Carolina